


Bound Together

by ScienceFantasy93



Category: Big Time Rush
Genre: F/M, Handcuffs, Magic Shop, Magic Wand, Romance/Humor, innuendos, mentions of bondage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-02
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 01:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScienceFantasy93/pseuds/ScienceFantasy93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Carlos handcuffs James and Katie together, and then reveals that he doesn't have the key, they're not too happy. And when they find out where they have to go to get the key, they're even more displeased. Before long, they end up on a wild goose chase that might just set their tension off...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bound Together

**Author's Note:**

> This was posted on Fanfiction.net on 9-28-12.
> 
> Enjoy!

**James' POV**

Carlos has been into magic tricks a lot lately.

Normally that's not something that's going to make you raise your eyebrows, but since it's Carlos, we should have known that him and magic weren't even close to kismet. After all, this is the same boy who once offered a top hat a carrot, and then threatened to break the hat store manager's  _I Heart Hats_  coffee mug if he didn't give him a hat with a bunny rabbit in it – one with a cute little puffy tail.

Carlos was really upset over the idea of a hate store selling faulty merchandise. He kept wailing, "If you can't trust a hat store, then who  _can_  you trust?!"

You see my point.

Carlos had just gotten back from the  _Magic Lovin'_  store, with some new magic equipment. With a name like  _Magic Lovin'_ , we all thought it'd be a sex shop, worthy of a [Las Vegas tourist attraction](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8564725/1/Bound-Together). Carlos managed to prove us wrong.

He informed us that it wasn't  _just_  a sex shop – it was a sex  _and_  magic shop. Sounds classy. Something to have in every neighborhood.

When Logan said grace at the dinner table, he began adding in, "And God? Please don't let any paparazzi catch Carlos outside  _Magic Lovin'_."

But Carlos didn't listen to us, no matter how many times we told him to find a nice, normal, non-freaky magic shop. He insisted that sales were down, and that his business would make all the difference in the world.

You gotta admire him for being so hopeful and selfless.

"I got the coolest handcuffs!" Carlos crowed, pulling a set of furry purple furry handcuffs with large black polka dots out of his  _Magic Lovin'_  shopping bag.

I raised my eyebrows at Katie, who looked back at me. She had an unusually dumbstruck expression on her face, as if she couldn't believe Carlos had actually bought a sex toy to use as a magic trick.

Only Carlos.

"According to Eddy, the store manager, one tap with the magic wand and these babies will unlock like  _that_!" he snapped his fingers for added effect.

"Oh, goody," Katie said dryly. "A magic wand and handcuffs. Sounds so innocent and fun. We could get our own episode on  _Barney and Friends_."

" _Magic Lovin'_  probably has magic dildos too," I muttered to Katie. "Or magic vibrators. Poof! Instant orgasm!"

She snorted with laughter, and I grinned in satisfaction.

While we had been talking, Carlos had been pulling out and setting up his ever-present magic kit.

"Will you let me practice on you guys?" he pleaded.

Katie blinked at him as we peered at him over the back of the couch. "Practice what?" she wanted to know.

"Unlocking the handcuffs, duh!"

I looked at him. "On just one of us, right?"

"Noooo…what's the point in that? I need to handcuff you and Katie together."

"You need to do  _what_?"

Carlos nodded, eyes big and sweet. "Uh huh. Please? I just need to practice so that I can learn how to unlock the cuffs. It'll only take a couple of minutes."

I looked at Katie, waiting to see what she had to say about this.

She sighed. "Fine. You sure you can unlock these with the wand?"

"Yep! Eddy said it would only take a tap!"

"Fine. We'll do it. Come on, James. Let's let Carlos handcuff us together."

"I never thought I'd ever hear you say that…"

"There's a first time for everything," she replied.

"True…"

We got to our feet, and walked around the couch to where Carlos was, looking at us eagerly. He had the cuffs at the ready.

Reluctantly, I held out my left arm, and Katie reached out her right hand. Carlos held the cuffs open, and then snapped them over our wrists.

I jangled my arm, and the cuffs bounced.

Carlos grabbed his magic wand. "Eddy told me to say, Abracadabra! Open sesame!" He tapped the end of the wand against the cuffs.

Nothing happened.

Katie and I stared at him.

"Huh. That's weird. They were supposed to unlock. Lemme try again. Abracadabra! Open sesame!"

Nothing again.

"Third time's the charm!" Carlos said brightly.

Katie and I exchanged nervous looks.

"Abracadabra! Open sesame!" he tapped the handcuffs.

They remained locked around our wrists.

Carlos bit his lip, thinking hard. "I wonder why it's not working."

"Maybe because it's not a real magic wand?" I suggested through gritted teeth.

"No, no, that's not it."

Katie tried to face-palm, and ended up smacking herself in the face with both of our hands.

"Ow…damn it!"

"Carlos," I snarled, "just get these damn things unlocked."

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" He kept going for the next fifteen minutes.

Finally, Katie sighed. "Carlos, just get the key and unlock us. This isn't working."

Carlos looked at her. "The key?"

"Yeah, the key. You know, the thing that unlocks the handcuffs? The key?"

Carlos chewed on his bottom lip. "Yeah…about that…"

"You do have the key, don't you?" Katie demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Um…well…no…"

"You don't?" I yelped. "Then where the hell is it?"

"Um…I think Eddy has it."

"Why don't you have it?" I demanded angrily.

"Well…he doesn't sell the key with handcuffs."

"He doesn't –  _why the hell not_?!" I roared.

"Because people lose the keys really easily. They could get locked into the handcuffs without the keys."

Katie and I furiously waved the handcuffs at him, and I pointed to our chained wrists.

"Well, that's what the magic wand was for! Only, I don't know how to use it."

"No shit," I muttered.

"Sorry."

"Uh huh…"

"I am! It was an accident."

"You could have at least made sure you had the key before you decided to handcuff us together," I snapped at him. "How the hell do we get out of these?"

"You could get the key from Eddy," Carlos suggested with a shrug. "I'm sure he'd be happy to unlock you."

Great. Just what we needed. To go into  _Magic Lovin_ , handcuffed together. That wouldn't look suspicious at all.

The front door swung open, and Kendall and Logan trooped in.

Katie and I turned to look at them, the handcuffs swinging slightly.

Kendall took in the sight of us handcuffed together, with cuffs that were so obviously made for certain sexual acts, and his eyes bugged out, his face turning tomato red.

Katie waved her free hand at him. "Hey, big brother."

"What – how – why – WHAT?!"

"I said hey. You know, the greeting?"

"WHY ARE YOU HANDCUFFED TO JAMES?!"

I winced. "Funny story…"

"ARE YOU TWO SLEEPING TOGETHER?!"

"She's not handcuffed to my bed post!" I yelped.

"Oooh, kinky," Katie commented.

Kendall looked like he was about to explode.

I looked at Katie. "You like that?"

"Sure, it sounds hot." She fanned herself with her free hand.

Logan gagged.

"What? It does," Katie said to him.

I'm pretty sure I saw steam coming out of Kendall's ears.

"They're not having sex," Carlos told Kendall brightly. "Or, at least, not that I know of. I handcuffed them together to practice my magic."

"Why?"

"Because, I needed to practice unlocking handcuffs using my wand."

"How's that going for you?" Logan wanted to know.

"Not well. I'm not very good at it."

"Which is why I'm still handcuffed to James," Katie said through gritted teeth.

"So I see."

I turned to Katie. "Come on, we should go see if we can get the key from Eddy."

She nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

I grabbed my keys and wallet, and we headed out of the apartment.

It took us about five seconds before I realized that it would be extremely difficult to drive with my left arm handcuffed to Katie's right arm. She would have to drive…except she was right handed, and not overly coordinated with her left hand.

"Want to call a cab?" she asked me as we stared at the BTR mobile.

"Yeah."

The cab driver was very nice and quiet and didn't ask us why we were handcuffed together. I figured that if you drive a cab long enough, you see just about everything.

Katie slid into the backseat of the cab first, and I followed her in. She reached her right hand around to grab her seatbelt, sending me flying, so that I ended up sprawled across the seat.

She blinked at me. "Oops. Sorry."

"Uh huh…"

I managed to get myself straightened out, and slammed the door shut. I maneuvered the seatbelt over my chest, and managed to get myself buckled in. A seatbelt suddenly seemed that much more important with Katie and me handcuffed together. We could get pulled in either direction so much more easily. I could probably send her flying into the passenger side window…or into me…

"You know," Katie said to me, "once we get these damn handcuffs off, we really need to do something about Carlos' magic box."

"How about we throw it out the window?" I suggested.

"Yes! That works!"

"Or else we could get him a real magic wand."

"Sure, we'll make a trip to Diagon Alley right after we find Narnia."

"Well, you don't have to get sarcastic…"

She rolled her eyes. "I say we just lay the law down for him – he can't practice his damn magic tricks on us ever again. No offense, but this isn't my ideal situation."

"What? You think I want to be attached to you by pink fuzzy handcuffs? Yeah, because this is my dream situation."

"Let's just get these freaking things off."

"Agreed."

The rest of the ride to  _Magic Lovin'_  was quiet, and it was a relief when we finally pulled up in front of the shop. I managed to fish some cash out of my wallet and I passed it to the driver. "Thanks."

He said something in a language that I'm relatively sure was not English, but he smiled nonetheless, so I think he was thanking me. Well, either that, or he was wishing me luck with getting laid, considering his eyes darted from the handcuffs chaining Katie's and my wrists together, to the store, with its lingerie, sex props, and magic hats decorating the window.

I decided to go with him thanking me, so I gave him a quick smile, and tugged Katie out of the cab, and onto the sidewalk in front of the store.

"Ready to go in?"

"I don't know. Am I old enough to go into that store?"

"I think so. I mean, it's not like bars, right? Where you have to be twenty-one or older? I mean, it's a sex shop and a magic shop. So I'm sure you'll be allowed to go in."

"Your argument sucked."

"I'm aware of that."

"Let's just go." She pulled me forward, towards the shop. I glanced around we walked towards the store, taking in the scenery. There was a tattoo parlor on one side of  _Magic Lovin'_ , and a Mexican restaurant on the other side. Across the street was a Chinese restaurant, and what looked like a retro costume shop. And parked a little ways down from _Magic Lovin'_  was a cop car.

Oh goody.

I nudged Katie and nodded to the police cruiser. She raised an eyebrow at it. "What're the chances? I'm sure Carlos has come down here plenty of times and there's never been a cop hanging around. I'm just glad we didn't actually drive down here."

"Why?"

"Because otherwise we might park illegally or something and then we'd get a ticket and it would be really embarrassing. I mean, this isn't the kind of place you want to be arrested outside of."

"We wouldn't get arrested for parking illegally."

"No, but we'd get a ticket, and since it's you, it would make headline news. CNN would probably be down here to document the entire thing, and then we'd have to explain what we were doing down here together, in a sex and magic store, and what're the chances of anyone believing us? I mean, getting a key to the handcuffs? And why were we handcuffed together in the first place? No one would believe us if we said it was all Carlos' fault."

I gaped at her for a long moment, before saying, "Well, it's a good thing we didn't drive, isn't it?"

She nodded and took a deep breath. "Let's go get ourselves un-handcuffed."

"Sounds good."

We walked up to the door and I pushed it open. Bells above the door chimed as the door opened, and Katie and I quickly slid in, not wanting to attract too much attention.

The shop wasn't particularly nice, and definitely not something you would expect for a sex/magic shop. The walls were painted a dull beige, with Marilyn Monroe posters and postcards gracing the walls, and there was a strong smell of incense in the air. There were rows of knotted wooden shelves, with mismatched items arranged on them, and in the background, Justin Timberlake's album  _FutureSex/LoveSounds_  was playing.

An oily looking man appeared behind the peeling counter, looking as if he used grease on his lips and rouge on his cheeks. Despite  _SexyBack_  playing, he looked as if he had gotten lost in a 1970 time warp and had never found his way out. He wore bellbottoms and a flowing shirt, with the neck dripping down to below his chest. A silver chain hung around his neck, and his black hair was in what roughly resembled Elvis' hairstyle.

Forget the time warp, he looked like a used car salesman.

"Mine name's Eddy, and what may I do for you?" he asked, smiling widely as he took in Katie and me.

"Well, we could really use the key to these handcuffs," I told him as we approached the counter, a little uneasily.

"Can I see?"

Katie and I placed our wrists on the counter, and he examined the cuffs. "Who bought these?"

"Carlos Garcia," Katie answered.

"Ah, yes. Didn't he use the magic wand?"

"Yes, but it didn't work," I replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, that's odd."

"Come on, the magic wand doesn't work. It's why they're called magic  _tricks_  – because they're nothing but tricks," Katie snapped at Eddy.

"They work if you know how to manipulate them."

"Well, Carlos obviously doesn't."

"Seriously, we just want the key so that we can get these damn things off of us," I put in. "So, can we get the key?"

Eddy licked his lips, suddenly looking slightly nervous, and his eyes began darting around.

"The key," I insisted. "We need it. Now."

"Yeah…about the key…"

"What about it?"

"I can't actually give it to you."

I blinked. "Why not?"

"Because I don't have it."

"You don't have it?" Katie cut in. "What do you mean you don't have it? These are your handcuffs! How can you not have the key to them?"

"Well, you see, there are a dozen handcuffs just like those in this store, but only one key. A friend of mine bought a pair of handcuffs and needed the key."

"So…where is this friend of yours now?"

"He's staying at the La Amore Inn, in suite 310."

"That's all the way across town," Katie groaned.

"What's his name?" I asked Eddy.

"Theodore Charleston. Goes by Theo normally."

"Okay, thanks."

"Why are you thanking him?" Katie cried. "The bastard only had one key and he gave it away!"

"Because," I said calmly, "we're going to go find Theo and get the key back from him."

"Ah."

I nodded.

"Before you leave," Eddy spoke up, "can I interest you in some scented candles? Or perhaps some silk sheets? Or how about a vibrator, to help increase her pleasure during your nightly activities."

I stared at him. "We're not dating!"

"So…a friends with benefits relationship?"

"No!"

He clicked his tongue. "Well, you better get on it! Chop, chop! A pretty thing like that isn't going to wait around for you to finally get your brain where your dick is!"

I gaped at him in astonishment. I couldn't even begin to figure out what he meant by that.

"We're leaving," Katie said angrily. "Come on, James." We walked out of the shop.

"Well, that went well," I muttered, very disgruntled. "And what was with that last part? My brain and my dick are pretty well in touch with each other."

"Somehow, that doesn't worry me as much as it probably should."

I rolled my eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"Please, don't explain."

"Fine."

"Fine." She let out a huffy breath. "I can't believe we're still in these freaking cuffs! And the cop is still there! Geh! He's just  _staring_  at us. Has he never seen two handcuffed people before?"

"Yeah, probably around the time he escorts them to jail."

"He needs to get out more."

I just shook my head. Katie, Katie, Katie…

"Oh great, now he's getting out of the car…he's heading over here…what is he doing?"

"He probably wants to know how we came to be handcuffed together," I said with a shrug.

"Oh goody. Come on, let's call a cab. I want to get out of this neighborhood, it's so creepy."

"It's not that bad."

"Please. It looks like a trash pit."

"You're so overdramatic."

"I'm walking away from you now." She tried to stalk off, but all she did was manage to drag me along with her.

"We're kind of chained together, remember?" I snapped.

She growled in frustration. "Out of all the people I could get handcuffed to, it had to be you."

"What's wrong with being handcuffed to me?"

"You're an idiot!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had handcuffing standards."

"You're an idiot and you drive me nuts and I can't believe I'm actually handcuffed to you!"

"And you're an overemotional brat who's getting mad at me for something that I can't change! Believe me, Katie, I don't want to be handcuffed to you, but that's the situation we ended up in, so just suck it up, because we're going to be stuck like this for awhile."

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get the words out, I heard a male voice behind me say, "Could I ask you two some questions?"

I turned around, Katie stumbling to my side, to find myself facing the cop who I'd noticed earlier.

"Sure, what's up?"

"How did you two come to be handcuffed together?"

I looked at Katie and she looked back at me.

"Would you believe it was all part of a magic trick?" I asked the cop.

"Nope."

"Well, it was. It was part of a magic trick gone wrong."

"No one would be that stupid to handcuff two people together and not have the key."

"Actually, some people would be. We know someone like that. It's why we currently resemble Siamese twins," Katie snapped at him.

"I don't buy it. And these handcuffs are clearly sex toys."

"Clearly," she snorted. "No shit, Sherlock, where've you been?"

"Katie!" I hissed at her.

The cop crossed his arms. "I could write you both up, you know."

I stared at him. "For what?"

"For loitering. For inappropriate conduct." He nodded at the handcuffs.

"For – for – are you fucking kidding me?" I spat out. "Being handcuffed together is not inappropriate conduct! Just because you got insulted by a nineteen year old girl is no reason to just decide to give us a ticket!"

The cop stared at me. "Disrespecting a police officer. There's another offense."

"This is complete and total bullshit! Katie, come on, let's call a cab."

"You're not going anywhere!"

"Uh, yeah, we are." As luck would have it, a cab came speeding down the street. I hailed it, and Katie and I leapt in before the cop could say anything else.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked as Katie and I buckled up.

"The La Amore Inn," I told him. "And…um…ignore the cop who's shaking his fist at us. He lost a bet."

"I have a  _don't ask, don't tell_  policy," he informed me.

"Cool. Awesome. Just…please, step on it?"

"Right away." He took off at about eighty miles an hour down the street, Katie tumbling right into me.

"When I said  _step on it_ , I didn't mean  _floor it_!" I yelped.

"Eh, same difference."

"Since when?"

The driver shrugged and went even faster. Katie clutched at me desperately.

"I'm never complaining about your driving again," she told me, eyes wide with fear.

"Thanks, I appreciate that."

"Uh huh – WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The cab driver had just sped through a red light. There were about five different horns honking, along with the sound of people yelling, and I heard the screech of bus tires, but the entire intersection was all a blur of color, and then we were through it and speeding down the road again.

"We'll be to the hotel in five minutes!" the driver called back to Katie and me.

"Ummm…yay?" I said, glancing at Katie. I couldn't help thinking that our lives weren't worth a near-fatal trip across town. She looked back at me, clearly agreeing with what I was thinking.

The driver beamed at us in his rear view mirror. About three minutes later, we pulled up in front of the La Amore Inn. Katie and I all but tumbled out onto the curb, and then we made a straight beeline for the entrance to the hotel. We met some trouble at the entrance, thanks to the revolving doors. Let me tell you, trying to get through a revolving door is pretty much impossible when you're handcuffed to another person. I don't recommend trying it at home. It's much too painful, not to mention humiliating.

"What?" I snapped at someone as Katie and I tried to arrange ourselves so that we could get into one of the crevices of the door. "Have you never seen handcuffed people trying to get into a hotel before?"

The woman gave me an affronted look and then pushed past us, walking neatly into the lobby.

"Rude!" I hollered after her.

Katie sighed. "I'm thinking I'll wedge myself in front of you. Maybe that'll work."

I nodded. We had tried every other position that we could think of to get into the lobby. If this one didn't work, we'd be even more screwed than we already were.

We got ourselves situated, and then we pushed through the door. Success!

We headed up to the check-in desk and the receptionist looked at us, slightly questioningly. Apparently people don't come barging into a fancy-schmancy hotel with handcuffs as accessories. I personally thought we were the most interesting people in the lobby.

"So, what's the plan?" Katie asked me as we shifted our weight back and forth, trying not to draw any more attention than we already had.

"We go up to room 310 and see if we can get Theo to give us the key?" I suggested.

"Sounds good. Let's go."

We headed over to the elevator and I punched the button for the elevator. A moment later, the doors opened with a noise that sounded halfway between a  _chime_  and a  _ding_.

"Perky," Katie commented as we sidled into the elevator car.

"Uh huh," I agreed as I hit the button for the third floor. The doors slid close and there was the familiar jerky sensation as the elevator began moving.

About three seconds later, the doors opened again, and Katie and I stepped out, passing a small family with a little boy and girl, all of whom were dressed like they were going to tea with the queen of England. They all gaped open-mouthed at us, and I heard the little boy ask his parents if Katie and I were circus criminals.

I decided not to put too much thought into it.

"I cannot wait to get these damn handcuffs off," Katie mumbled to herself.

Her and me both.

We reached suite 310, and Katie knocked on the door.

No answer.

She knocked on the door again, a little harder this time.

Still no answer.

She hammered on the door.

No answer, but the door to suite 312 swung open, revealing an irate-looking middle aged woman.

"What is going on?" she cried.

"Sorry," Katie apologized to her.

The woman's eyes widened as she took in our handcuffed hands. "Freaks! I'm calling the cops!"

"Please don't do that!" I yelped. "We're not freaks! We're just misunderstood!"

"You're freaks in fuzzy handcuffs!"

"We're misunderstood freaks in fuzzy handcuffs," I corrected her.

She glowered heavily at me and slammed the door.

"Think she'll forget what the number is for 911?" I asked Katie.

"We can only hope. And why won't this jackass open up the door?" she kicked 310's door in frustration.

"He's not home?" I suggested. "He might have a job. In fact, considering the fact that staying at this place for a day probably costs more than a month's rent at the Palmwoods, he must."

"Well, we're shit out of luck now."

I didn't want to agree with her…But I kind of had to.

"I guess we just wait for him to come home?" Katie said dully.

"I guess…" I bit my lip, a small plan beginning to form in my mind.

"What? What?"

"I was just thinking, it could be hours before he comes back."

"That's what I mean by us being shit out of luck."

"Or not. Come on." I dragged her back down the hall to the elevator.

"What? Where are you taking me?"

"Down to the check-in desk."

"Why?"

"Well, how are we going to get into suite 310 if we don't get a key from the receptionist?"

"What? No! James – we can't! That's breaking and entering!"

"No it's not. We're not kicking in the door – although you did give it a good try."

She glared at me. "It's his room! We can't just get a spare key! That's illegal! Besides, the receptionist will see right through us."

"Not if we're convincing." I got the elevator and pulled Katie in. Within thirty seconds, we were back in the lobby.

We crossed the room to the check-in desk and came to a halt in front of the taken-aback looking receptionist. I guess she hadn't expected to see us again. However, she quickly got herself under control.

"What can I do for you two?" she asked politely.

I gave her my best charming smile. "We're staying in suite 310 with Theodore Charleston for a couple of days, but we locked our keycard in the suite and Theo's at work. Could we borrow another one for a little while, until we get the first keycard?"

She nodded and smiled back, not even bothering to check to see if Theo was paying an extra fee for two extra people. Without further ado, she passed me a keycard. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Just, um, out of curiosity, do you mind if I ask why you two are handcuffed together?"

I smirked. "My girlfriend's into the freaky stuff." I headed off towards the elevator, Katie coming a little bit behind me.

Once we were in the elevator, she stomped hard on my foot.

"Ow!"

"Apparently I'm into pain, too."

"Sorry. But you're the one who's been insulting me all day. Consider this payback."

She scowled. "I hate you."

"And it's insults like that that led me to telling the receptionist that you like it freaky."

"You're insufferable!"

"Not helping your case."

She glared at me for several seconds before shoving me into the wall. Before I could point out that by shoving me she was only sending herself flying into me, she was kissing me. I didn't hesitate – I kissed her back. She leapt into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. I gripped her tightly, deepening the kiss. She responded likewise, entwining her fingers in my hair and tugging slightly. I groaned and shifted our positions so that she was the one who was up against the wall. She bit down on my bottom lip, tugging, and I hissed. I nipped at her lower lip right back, causing her to whimper. Her grip on my hair tightened a little and she kissed me a little more forcefully.

"Ahem."

We broke apart and found ourselves facing an open elevator door leading to the third floor, with several alarmed onlookers staring at us.

"Oh, like you've never made out in an elevator while handcuffed together," I snipped.

"Uhhhh…"

I set Katie down, straightened out my clothes, and did my best to look dignified as we walked out past the small audience.

She cleared her throat several times. "That was…um…unexpected."

"Yeah…" My face was beginning to grow hot. That had been  _very_  unexpected. Not that I was complaining. It had been the best part of my day so far.

We reached suite 310 again, and I inserted the keycard into the slot. A green light flashed across the screen at the top and there was an electronic click. I opened the door and we stepped into the room – correction: Suite.

It really was one. It was the size of a large apartment, with elaborate furnishings that looked like they belonged in the palace of Versailles, circa 1775. Lots of gold, satin, and brocade. It was all really gorgeous, but also very extreme. I couldn't imagine feeling at home in a place like this.

Katie glanced around the suite. "Where should we start?"

"His bedroom? That's the logical place to keep a pair of handcuffs like these." I indicated ours.

"True. Let's go." We headed into his room and our jaws dropped. The place was a mess. There were clothes thrown haphazardly over the floor and furniture, and beauty products were thrown all over the place – wait a second… _beauty products_?!

We gingerly made our way across the room, and Katie picked up a piece of clothing. "Leather pants? Really?"

I frowned and noticed a stack of business cards on the dresser. I walked over to it and looked at the cards. Printed across the small, rectangular pieces of card paper, in glittery purple loopy writing was  _TheCharleston Escort Service_.

Unbelievable. Theo ran an escort service and, who knows? With these clothes and beauty products, he might have been one himself.

I showed the cards to Katie and she nodded. "Let's find the key and get the hell out of here."

"Agreed." We began to look through dresser drawers, desk drawers, the nightstand drawer.

Nothing.

Eventually, we began to pick carefully through the clothes. After a few minutes, Katie found the handcuffs…And buried under a shiny red thing that looked like it might have been a shirt was a small key.

She inserted it in the lock of our handcuffs and turned. The cuffs sprang open.

We wiggled our wrists out of them, grinning. She dropped the key on the floor and we made a dash for the door.

We dropped the keycard off at the check-in desk and raced out of the hotel. We called a cab for the ride back to the Palmwoods.

It was almost eight PM by the time we walked into 2J. No one was home, but once we checked our phones, we saw we had texts from everyone. The outcome was pretty obvious: Kendall was out with Jo and Logan was with Camille. Carlos was out, in search of a restaurant that served corndogs.

"Well, that was exhausting," Katie mumbled, collapsing onto the couch.

I plopped down beside her. "Agreed. I never want to go through that again. But…"

"Hmm?"

"It wasn't all bad, right? I mean, there was the elevator ride…"

Her cheeks turned pink. "Oh…yeah…"

"Yeah."

There was a few seconds of silence, and then she said bluntly, "I'm not spending the next five minutes telling you that I like you, blah, blah, blah. You've probably already figured it out."

"Um…well…I guess it kind of hadn't occurred to me yet. I mean, I hadn't gotten the chance to think about it."

"Oh. Well…yeah. Okay. I like you."

"You'd never know it," I pointed out. "You called me an idiot."

"And you called me an overemotional brat."

"Touché."

"Let's just say we're even," she suggested.

"Sounds good."

"So…um…is there any chance at all that you might like me back…?" she bit her lip, looking up at me anxiously.

I nodded. "There's every chance." And then I kissed her.

No one got home until after eleven. By that time, Katie and I had managed to work past any differences and tension that the handcuffs had caused, via my bed.

We were crashed out in my bed, tangled up in the sheets, her head resting on my chest. I was offhandedly playing with her hair as she ran a hand up and down my arm, when the front door opened and closed.

"James? Katie?" Carlos was home.

"What?" I groaned towards my bedroom door.

Big mistake.

Carlos came bounding into my room. Katie and I both yelped and tried our best to make sure all the essentials were covered.

"Did you get the handcuffs off?" he asked brightly.

"Uh huh…" Katie answered.

"That's good! Oh! Did you two hook up? It's about time! You two had waaay too much sexual tension. You really needed to release it. All better?"

"Uh huh…" Katie squeaked out.

"Good! You know, a healthy sex life is good for a lot of stuff. I have this book that Eddy sold me. It talks all about it – "

"Carlos?" I interrupted him, reaching under my head and grabbing a pillow.

"Mmm?"

"Get out."

"Why? Don't you want to hear about the book? It's really interesting! And it talks about how to keep your sex life fun and exciting. You and Katie might want to try out some of the ti – aaagh!" I launched the pillow at him. "I'm going!" he yelped, running out of the room and slamming my door behind him.

Katie looked at me as I got up and retrieved my pillow. "We owe him a lot."

"Do you mean revenge-wise?" I asked as I joined her in bed again.

"Yeah. But also…we might not have gotten together if he hadn't handcuffed us together."

"True. We should thank him."

"One day," she agreed.

"One day." I turned my head and kissed her.


End file.
